Enforcement
News & Commentary | Archive The statute increases penalties for certain violations, and also creates a framework for more active criminal enforcement of the law. Criminal sentencing standards for campaign finance violations have been established, and the statute of limitations for criminal liability has been extended to 5 years. The FEC and the Department of Justice have begun developing a new protocol or agreement governing their shared responsibility for enforcement of the law. "Voter Fraud" as Wedge Issue: the DOJ Report on the US Attorney FiringsThe Department of Justice Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility’s Report on the US Attorney firings is not a full-dress treatment of the topic, having been hampered by key witnesses’ refusal to submit to interviews. It is a measure of the crudity and clumsiness of these firings that, on only the information that could be gathered, a clear picture of illicit motives and grubby tactics emerges. In this election season, as we hear more about "fraud", the report is a reminder of the raw politics behind these assertions
(10/1/08) Read More Brad Smith Replies on Criminal Enforcement of the Campaign Finance LawsBrad Smith replies to this post with a defense of the proposition that DOJ rightly eschews criminal enforcement of 527 activity. He makes a variety of thoughtful arguments and in variety he expects to find cohesion and strength.
(9/30/08) Read More CCP v. Democracy 21, on 527 Enforcement and the Role of DOJFred Wetheimer at Democracy 21 has registered the same objection made here to comments by the official in charge of the Election Crimes Branch about criminal enforcement of 527 regulations. In a letter to the Attorney General, Wertheimer complains that these comments, suggesting that enforcement was not appropriate, conflict with commitments previously made at the urging of Democracy 21: he does not accept that rules can be flouted but the violations go unenforced as a matter of Department policy. Wertheimer demands that the official in question, Craig Donsanto, be removed from decision-making responsibility over enforcement matters. The Center for Competitive Politics then took off after Wertheimer, jabbing at him for criminalizing complex questions of constitutional law.
(9/29/08) Read More The McCain Matching Fund Case: Part TwoThe Commission on the 21st, this Thursday, has set itself the task of deciding whether John McCain can withdraw from the primary matching fund program. Its counsel has concluded that this withdrawal must be voted, four votes being required to let McCain off. Assume that the Commission cannot muster those four votes: what would be this mean? Considering this question gives reason to wonder about the wisdom of the presentation and scheduling of this issue as it now sits on the agenda. (8/18/08) Read More A New Agency and Its Policy ChoicesMeeting for the first time, the Federal Election Commission elected its officers and looked at the challenge ahead. According to the FEC press release, Chairman McGahn noted the matters of "policy" it would need to address. This is a correctly stated duty of the agency: but it is also the source of the ongoing conflict between the agency and its well-organized, litigious critics who draw a line between the "law" the FEC must follow and "policy" judgments Congress has already made and that the agency is not free to vary. (7/16/08) Read More Also...FEC Commissioners and Their "One Term" 6/17/08 New Year's Eve 12/31/07 Holiday Tip 12/27/07 A Season of Reform Priorities 12/21/07 No Barking in the Night about the FEC 12/20/07 "Clean and Fair" 12/18/07 Christmas Past, Present and Future at the Federal Election Commission 12/17/07 "Needing"The FEC--And Why.... 12/7/07 The FEC On its Sick (Death?) Bed 12/4/07 |